Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO) is an incredible non-profit organization that provides opportunities for educators to travel overseas, learn from these intercultural trips, and share their experiences with their students, after they get home. Truly, this is one of the best international education opportunities for educators that I've ever seen. It  is an all-encompassing program, from pre-trip support to assistance with integrating these international experiences into their teaching curriculum. 

WE: The last time we spoke was in March when you were spreading the word about your 2011 summer travel programs. Did you end up reaching your goals?

JW: Last summer went really well. We ended up with 144 participants, which is about 46% growth from the previous summer's programs. As everyone knows, with districts cutting budgets 2011 was a rough year for teachers so for us to continue to grow in this climate means we are doing something valuable for the education community. Our participants by and large had a wonderful time and this fall have been sharing their experiences with their students using the curriculum we develop.

WE:  Speaking of curriculum, can you describe that for us and how does it come together?

JW:To learn more about our curriculum I recommend your readers visit this page on our website,  http://www.geeo.org/share-your-adventure/. This past year we started working with the National Resource Centers at UPenn, University of Texas at Austin and Northern Illinois University to create even more dynamic lesson plans. We will continue to improve and expand our curriculum for 2012.

WE:  Has GEEO added any new programs for this coming summer?

JW:Yes, we have added the following new programs: Ecuador, The Galapagos Islands, China, Russia/Mongolia/China, Turkey and Thailand/Laos/Cambodia. We also are happy to announce that GEEO and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) are collaborating on two programs in the summer of 2012 to Peru and Turkey.

WE: Could you remind us who travels with GEEO?

JW: GEEO participants are mostly made up of American K-12 teachers. Each group tends to have a good mix of educators in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's. About half of our participants are coming alone and do not know anyone in the group prior to the trip. Our trips are open to all Kindergarten to University teachers, school staff, school administrators, and soon-to-be teachers pursuing their teaching certificate. Our programs are also open to retired educators. Non-American educators are welcome on our trips. Educators participating in our programs are permitted to bring friends or family members on their trip.

WE:  What are the deadlines for this year's programs?

JW: June 1st is the latest people can sign up, but chances are most of the programs will be full well before then so I recommend signing up sooner rather than later.

WE:  Do you have any plans for 2013 that you can share with us?

JW: While I don't know which new locations we will add, I do plan on offering at least one family program. At the moment we only accept educators and they are allowed to bring along a non-educator guest over the age of 18. Many teachers have asked me if it would be possible to take their children with them. The whole purpose of GEEO to is to help as many educators travel as possible so I try to remove road blocks when I can. While our regular departures will still be limited to people 18 years and older, the new family program will allow educators to bring along children over the age of 6. If the program is popular we will expand it to more locations in the future.

WE:  To wrap it up, how do teachers sign up for your programs?

JW: They should go to http://www.geeo.org/ and review our different trips. Our new website, which we launched this summer, has detailed information about each program. Once they have picked a trip all they need to do is click the blue "Book now" button and fill out the reservation form. If your readers have any questions they should not hesitate to either call me at 1-877-600-0105 or email me at jesse [at] geeo.org.

More articles on GEEO here on Wandering Educators:

Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO)

Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO): 2011 Updates

A Teacher's Journey with Global Exploration for Educators

Global Exploration for Educators - Panama

All photos courtesy and copyright GEEO.